Yeah, OK, he did not suck in his 1st outing, but yesterday’s (against the SKANKS no less) was pretty horrendous. Of course, he thought he was stronger than ever–just had some control issues. Well, ya know what buddy? Not really feeling the love here…I KNOW the Sox need a 5th starter–but holy buckets, does it need to be Bartolo Colon??? His line from yesterday: Throwing 41 pitches (21 for strikes, and facing 8 batters, he went 2/3 of ONE inning, giving up 3 hits and 4 runs. He also struck out 2 and walked 3. The best thing he did was strike out Skeezy Bastard to start the game….YUK…

In the Realm of the Kinda Obvious: Well Josh Beckett came up lame, and Daisuke’s wife gave birth to his son, thereby freeing him to return to Japan for the start of the 2008 campaign, it left little doubt on who the opening day starter would be against Oakland on the 25th. From Daisuke: “I’m very honored to pitch Opening Day…Although I’m replacing, I feel very lucky to be able to pitch. It’s the team’s ace’s job to do it, so I want to do my best for both Beckett and myself….The first game is important because it’s not just for me, I have to pitch for the team. With what Opening Day represents, you have to show fighting spirit for the team.”

Jon Lester gets the nod for the 2nd game, which was surprising to me, as I thought it would have been nice for Tim Wakefield to get the start. And apparently, Tito struggled with the decision some: “The one thing we probably fought a little bit was the urge to move Wake up…Because if you just go on deserving and wins and losses, he’s the guy that goes in there, but I think we kind of fought that urge. Just because when he’s not in our rotation, we’re not as good a team. We want him to make his 30 starts. If we do it in the right order where he has time to get ready, this gives him the best chance to do that.” Instead, he will pitch the 2nd exhibition game against the Yomiuri Giants on March 23rd, with Clay Buchholz pitching against the Hashin Tigers on the 22nd. This move practically assures they will also pitch 2 of the 3 exhibition games against the Dodgers between March 28 and 30th….

Josh Beckett had another day of throwing without incident yesterday, making 55 throws from 120 feet, with no after effects. Today’s workout will be a “normal” long toss (180 feet) which would be part of his normal routine. After a day off, he will then start easing back into mound work…Barring an unforeseen, he will see live hitters sometime this weekend in a minor league game…

There is still a chance Coco Crisp will be joining the team overseas. He took 5 at bats yesterday against live pitching, getting 1 hit and being caught stealing. So basically everything he did yesterday resulted in an out. Seems like he is picking up where he left off, as far as the black gaping hole in the lineup goes…He is expected to play in a minor league game today as the Sox are off…Wonderful…

More cuts yesterday, as the Sox sent George Kottaras, Craig Hansen, Chris Carter and Lincoln Holdzkom to Pawtucket. The roster now stands at 35 players–and the Sox can only take 30 with them to Japan…

Coming up today: Their only off day of Spring training, before their last game of the Spring tomorrow, which is home against the Blue Jays–Daisuke throws 1st pitch at high noon–and then the Sox are off to Japan to open the season…

One Response to “Red Sox 4, Skanks 8: And how exactly was this a good idea?”

Christine, my thoughts on Colon are this. He’s healthy, throwing heat, and basically just made his second spring training start. Come May 1, my bet he’s ready to roll and is the 5th starter. I’d prefer Buchholz to start the year in Pawtucket and get some more innings in that arm before attempting to throw 200+ in the bigs.